Employment Law: A Proposal for a New Course using Participatory Learning Methods

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to establish an employment law course at the School of Law that incorporates flipped classroom and other participatory learning techniques. Whether or not law students are contemplating a career in employment law, they are likely to encounter legal issues over work relationships in their professional practice. Topics will include individual rights and duties, collective rights and duties, and social insurance schemes connected to employment. The course will also cover emerging issues of particular relevance to Hong Kong, including migrant and cross-border work, post-employment restrictions, the growth of casual employment, and legal obligations surrounding lay-offs and restructurings. The course will use flipped classroom methods in which students watch short lecture videos before attending class and then spend class time engaged in problem solving exercises, role playing, and discussion. Class exercises will be based primarily on current events in Hong Kong, requiring students to identify and assess the potentially hidden and nuanced employment law issues the events implicate. The course leader will introduce major cases through the Socratic method, a lecture method that replaces passive listening with critical reflection and engagement. The outcome of the project will be to introduce students to an important field of law, contribute to their professional development, cultivate their critical thinking faculties, and provide an opportunity to make original contributions to legal knowledge.